FRIDAY'S ROUNDUP: Methacton outslugs Spring-Ford in PAC-10 baseball

In the tightly-contested world of Pioneer Athletic Conference baseball, the post-season picture got a bit more crowded Friday.

Of the six teams in the hunt for spots in the league’s playoff field, Methacton produced some measure of separation at the top. It did so with an 11-7 win over Spring-Ford ... one that broke up a two-way tie for second place in the circuit standings and helped create a four-way logjam for third place.

The Warriors (11-5 PAC-10, 12-5 overall) got off to a five-run lead through three, only to see the Rams (10-6) go ahead 6-5 with three-run outputs in the fourth and fifth. But the tide swung back in Methacton’s favor with three runs in its half of the fifth — an 8-7 lead bolstered by three more runs in the sixth.

Clayton Harwick swung the big bat for the winners, plating two runs on 3-for-4 hitting. Danny Damato and Kyle Lowery also had two-RBI outings for the home team, whose 11-hit offense added the multiple-hit play of Tyler Kirkpatrick and Zach Harmon (both 2-for-3) and Glenn Seymour (2-for-4).

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Trip Hagner, pitching the final 2-2/3 innings in relief of starter Mike Anthony, got the win.

The hitting stars for Spring-Ford were losing pitcher Tyler Eckman (3-for-4), Connor Murphy (2-for-4) and David Gulati, each driving in pairs of runs. The Rams currently share third place with Boyertown, Perkiomen Valley and Pottstown, all of whom have similar 10-6 records and two regular-season games remaining.

Boyertown 9, Pottsgrove 4: Scoring seven times in their first at-bat, the Bears set a winning tone in their PAC-10 game with the Falcons.

Chris Reigner drove in two runs on 2-for-4 hitting that featured a triple, Dalton Hughes had a 3-for-4 showing at the plate, and Cory Fox added a 2-for-3 as Boyertown (10-6) became the latest of five league teams to hit double digits in victories. It backed the winning mound work of Tyler Bauman, who racked up six strikeouts and helped shut Pottsgrove down after getting all its runs through two.

Sachael Sciarretta (2-for-3) and Max Trythall (2-for-4) were the main contributors to the Falcons’ five-hit offense, Trythall driving in two runs.

Perkiomen Valley 6, Owen J. Roberts 2: With the scored tied at 2-all after two innings, Perk Valley held the Wildcats scoreless for the rest of the way, while scoring two more runs in the fifth and two in the sixth for the PAC-10 win.

Perk Valley’s (10-6) Brett Davis tossed a three-hitter, struck out four, walked three, and went the distance for the win. Davis also had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-4 and scored a run. Sam Morris was also 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.

Connor Hassinger (1-for-3) doubled in both runs for the Wildcats (4-12). Kutter Endy took the mound loss, working 4.2 innings. He scattered seven hits, gave up four runs, walked three, and struck out four.

Pottstown 10, Pope John Paul II 2: Joey Schaaf went 2-for-3 with a double, four RBI and two runs and Bailey Brown and Richy Masciarelli combined on a two-hitter to help the Trojans down the Golden Panthers in PAC-10 play.

Trailing 2-0, Pottstown (10-6, 11-7) tied it with a two-run fourth highlighted by Schaaf’s RBI double before going up to stay in a six-run fifth in which PJP (5-11, 5-12) committed four errors.

Derek Beyer went 2-for-4 with a triple and three runs for the Trojans.

James Bleming went 2-for-3 with two triples, a run and RBI for the Golden Panthers.

SOFTBALL

Methacton 4, Perkiomen Valley 2: Methacton rallied to score all four of its runs in the seventh inning to down Perk Valley in a battle of PAC-10 contenders.

After being held scoreless by PV starter Emily Oltman for six innings and two outs of the seventh, pitcher Jordan Prutzer and Allie Parente hit back-to-back singles, the second scoring the first Warrior run. Freshman Dani Duda followed with a walk before Amanda Kulp’s RBI double and Brittany Dickinson’s two-run single gave Methacton (11-2, 12-2) a 4-2 lead.

PV, which got a two-run home run by Kelsey Impink in the fourth inning, didn’t go quietly but Prutzer, who allowed four hits and struck out six, was able to end the threat.

Oltman allowed seven hits and struck out 10 for the Vikings.

Spring-Ford 15, Pottstown 0: While a trio of pitchers collaborated on a two-hitter, the Rams banged out 19 hits as they needed just four innings to dispatch the Trojans in their PAC-10 game.

Haleigh Williams yielded the lone hits Pottstown mustered in the first inning, then watched Jenna Lee and Becca Faust give Spring-Ford (14-1) no-hit relief for the next three. At the plate, Jaycee Loomis (three RBI) and Gabby Tareila (two RBI) each went 4-for-4, Cassie Alexy added a 3-for-4 effort and Morgan Newton and Bri Kofer had pairs of hits and RBI.

The Trojans’ lone hits came from Kelly O’Donnell and Rayanna Ramsey.

GIRLS LACROSSE

Boyertown 18, Methacton 3: The Bears again got rolling early, storming out to a 12-2 lead in the opening half, and cruised on for the easy PAC-10 win to remain undefeated in league play at 13-0.

Annie Rodgers had a standout afternoon, firing in five goals and adding two assists. Haley Wentzel scored three goals and had one assist, while Kaitlyn DeHaven finished with two goals and four assists. Rachel Engler also scored two goals and added one assist, Alex O’Herrick chipped in two goals. Emma Morgan one goal and two assist. Marie Valenti, Lauren Mengel, and Alicia Stratten added one goal apiece, and Karli Gilbert had two assists. Bears goalie Katie Buckwalter made nine saves.

Methacton was led by Ellie Schmidt with two goals, while Kristen McCrane scored one. Warriors goalie Sam Rothman recorded 14 saves.

Owen J. Roberts 17, Perkiomen Valley 5: The four-goal outings of Gabbie Delgatto and Devin Hassinger were key to the Wildcats rolling over the Vikings in PAC-10 action.

OJR (10-3) also got two goals apiece from Molly Minahan, Katie Dempsey and Maddie Gebert, with Jess Harsch, Morgan Stone and Kerry Huzzard (seven assists) adding solo tallies. Devon Hennessey provided nine-save goaltending to help the ‘Cats stay in the running for a berth in the league’s playoffs.

Scoring for PV were Mara Wrzniewski and Kylie Muller, each with two goals, and Christie Balestra with one.

Phoenixville 17, Pottsgrove 2: Ellie Delany fired in four goals, while Jess Tague and Zoe Bullota each scored three and had one assist apiece as Phoenixville routed Pottgrove to remain atop the Frontier Division at 8-5.

Also scoring for Phoenixville, Bailey Stover and Angela Hayde each tallied two goals, while Sam Trafford, Alex Wertman, and Carolyn Groener chipped in one apiece and Shannan McErlean had an assist.

The lone scorers for Pottsgrove (1-12) were Cheyenne Owens and Brianna West.

Pottstown 15, Pope John Paul II 5: Alexis Hewlett and Madison Mackewicz each scored three goals to power the Trojans past the Golden Panthers in PAC-10 action.

Kelsey Shumaker and Sidney Sanford scored two goals each and Justine Santana, Gina Moore, Tyler Thorne and Kelsey Andrews each had one goal for Pottstown (8-5), which got 16 saves from Morgan Wambold.

Grace Dawson scored three goals for PJP (1-11), which also got one goal each from Olivia Torres and Ange McMongagle and six saves from Alex Nunez.

Perkiomen School 11, Lower Moreland 2: The Panthers got hat tricks from Nicole Pupillo and Hannah Tompkins as they romped over the Lions in non-league play.

Morgan Klavon added a pair of goals to the Perkiomen total while Steph Falcone, Gretchen Ray and Victoria Rath scored one each. Maddy Furdock had a great game in goal, earning 10 saves and making several important clears.

BOYS LACROSSE

Parkland 9, Perkiomen Valley 4: A slow start doomed the Vikings as they trailed 5-1 after the first quarter and 6-2 at halftime. Penalties and turnovers were also a factor for PV and Parkland cruised on for the non-league win.

District 1: Pope John Paul II’s team of Nick Tonneson and Connor McCarthy fared best of the four Pioneer Athletic Conference representatives to the District 1 Doubles Tournament, though all were eliminated in the early rounds of play at the Healthplex.

Tonneson and McCarthy opened in the eight-slot Class AA bracket with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Devon Prep’s Brekus/Defaber tandem. But they fell in the semifinals to Holy Ghost Prep’s Fioravante/Fritze duo, 6-1, 6-0.

In Class AAA competition, the three PAC-10 entries all bowed out in the first round. Phoenixville’s championship pairing of Jeff Potts and Ryan Cadigan extended Council Rock North’s Andrew Kazakovich and Anij Mehta to three sets before falling 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1, and its other team of Chris Walsh and Luke Lombardi did the same in a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 setback to Lucas Heyde and Chris Shannon of Great Valley. Spring-Ford’s Joey Graziadei and John Gracie also went out in the first round against C.R. North.